Boom Roasted With nearly 30 years of band experience under their collective belts, New Found Glory feel like they’re out to prove they still belong in the upper echelon of pop-punk royalty. Listen Up! was produced by Steve Evetts (Simple Plan, The Wonder Years), and the lyrical topics of the new LP are shaped around guitarist Chad Gilbert’s battle with metastatic cancer and the friendship he has created with his bandmates. The riff-heavy record has that classic NFG sound to it, while adding in some contributions from now-permanent touring member/guitarist Dan O’Connor of Four Year Strong, and the album showcases what the band is capable of crafting when they hone in on their strengths as a unit. The ten-song effort is a model of New Found Glory’s gritty work ethic and professional consistency as a band that shows little signs of slowing down anytime soon.
”Boom Roasted” begins the album on the right foot with a great opening riff from Gilbert, while Jordan Pundik sounds re-energized as he weaves through the lyrics about artists who seem more focused on their image rather than their music. The pointed pre-chorus of, “I was a sucker for it all before / I won’t stand for it anymore / The way the game is played, hot topics change / They’re righteous, but they never cared before this,” finds NFG coming back for their pop-punk throne while subtly throwing some shade on the bands who seem less genuine in their intentions. Lead single, “100%” follows in the sequencing and it makes for a solid complimentary song to the brisk opening statement. The classic NFG chorus of, “Whether I’m at the top, or whether I’m broken down / My word is cement, I’m gonna give you one-hundred percent / Whether we’re so in love, or whether you’re falling out / My word is cement, I’m gonna give you one-hundred percent,” begs to be sung along to, and I’m sure that it will be a staple in the band’s set for the foreseeable future.
Other songs in the early-going of Listen Up! like “Laugh It Off” feature tongue-in-cheek lyrics and metaphors regarding the concepts of growing up, and dealing with getting older. The second verse of, “And there’s a book that I read all about self help / It tells me it’s good to be alone sometimes / But can its pages teach me what I can learn from real life?” finds Pundik pondering about what’s best for his mental health over some speedy pop-punk riffing. New Found Glory do this type of sound really well on Listen Up! and it makes for a great opening listening experience. The down-tuned guitars of “A Love Song” show that the band isn’t afraid of taking some calculated risks still, while the bass-heavy section between the choruses and the verses from Ian Grushka are top notch. The bridge of, “I’m not trying to be dramatic / I’m not trying to sound pathetic / I just want these words in my head / To come out somewhat poetic,” is well-constructed and shows improvement from the band’s last full-length record of Forever + Ever X Infinity, that at times lacked a true heading in its delivery.
”Beer and Blood Stains” closes out the front-half of the album on the right footing, with some solid starts and stops to the guitar riffs while Pundik’s vocals continue to impress. The underrated drumming of Cyrus Bolooki is hard-hitting and punchy, making for a standout moment behind the kit. The heavy breakdown seems a tad forced in this song, as the band even announces the breakdown before adding in some hardcore-esque gang vocals that quickly bleed away into an ode to their hometown of Florida.
The back half of the album is where it started to lose me a bit. “Medicine” is a much-different sound than what New Found Glory have tried in the past, and it largely relies on standalone bass guitar in the verses, while Pundik’s down-trodden vocal delivery is a bit hard to get used to. The second verse of, “I’d stop by Ian’s garage and see the smoke trickle out / Most eclectic of people, Unwritten Law playing loud / Then I’d head to A1A, meet a girl at the beach / But I was still so chubby, she was out of my league,” embrace nostalgia, while still coming to terms with his current outlook on life and growing up. The song could’ve easily been a B-side, as it sticks out like a sore thumb in the beginning of Side B. “Treat Yourself” gets back to the steady groove of the earlier material released as singles, and features some speedy pop-punk that the band has little trouble of keeping in time with. Instead, New Found Glory cement their status as pop-punk legends with another memorable song in their storied discography.
”Dream Born Again” was originally released as an acoustic song on their latest effort of Make The Most Of It, and the electric version of the song works really well here. From the impossibly high vocal delivery from Pundik, to the incorporation of smooth-sounding guitar tones throughout, the band rallies around each other in a song about embracing life to the fullest. “You Got This” sounds like the sound that the band went for on their self-titled effort, albeit with a more polished delivery here. Lyrics like “Your life is a total mess, so what are you gonna do about it? / You reach out and just project, I’ve got enough to worry about / So stop trying to commiserate, I focus on positivity / Stop using your inability to grow, just stop and leave us alone,” are good advice to follow from the pop-punk veterans, and hit with a sense of urgency behind their meaning.
”Frankenstein’s Monster” is largely about Gilbert’s battle with metastatic cancer and his outlook on life given his new reality. The ending lyrics of, “Plug me in, dark clouds, I’m begging / Let your lighting strike down / Fill my veins with life now / Plug me in, needle and thread, I’m begging / Piece by piece, connect me / Fix my scars, set me free,” find Gilbert using the metaphors of Frankenstein to wanting to be better/fixed, and get back to living life the way he used to. Even if that seems like wishful thinking based on Gilbert’s health updates, his humility towards wanting to give back to the community that embraced his band in the first place feels genuine and from a good place.
New Found Glory tackle some heavy lyrical themes on Listen Up!, and mark a significant chapter in their discography that continues to impress as we look back on all of the great music the band has created. NFG remains a steady constant in the pop-punk world, and one can only hope they continue to fine-tune their sound and take even more creative risks on subsequent records. For now, they can’t wait to hear all of us sing all of these words back in the pit.